February 2, 2004

Cold Weather Blues

Another Ithaca winter is half over, and here we are still trudging through the snow. The temperature is dropping, and we can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever see the sun again. As we put on our thermal underwear and rush out the door to make our 9:05’s, there’s one thing going through every Cornell student’s mind, and that is: “Will they ever cancel class?” The answer, unfortunately, is no, but there is good news! You’re halfway done. The coldest and shortest days of winter are behind us, but we do have two months left. Here’s to figuring out a way to ease our Ithaca weather woes.

Those of us who went home to warmer climates for winter break should consider ourselves lucky. According to Prof. Art DeGaetano, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Jan. 2004 was the eighth coldest January since 1926. “Of yesterday, the average temperature during this January was 16.0 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest Jan. was in 1977 when the average temperature was 13.1 degrees,” DeGaetano said.

Yoshiko Ono ’06 certainly felt the effects of the severe January weather. “Snow is one of the worst parts about Cornell,” said Ono. “Some of my best friends go to schools like Emory and Maryland and their classes are canceled with one-quarter inch of snow. Yet, us Cornellians trudge through the snow in negative temperatures, bundled in scarves and hats, and still make it to our 9:05’s!”

The severe winters that we in Ithaca know all too well comes with some risks to our physical and mental health. There are plenty of ways to reduce these risks, according to Sharon Dittman, Gannett’s associate director for community relations, but it is important to recognize them nonetheless.

Dittman admits that catching a cold from the cold weather is an old wives tale. But, she said, “The cold weather does take a toll on the body’s immune system. As a result, we’ve seen plenty of upper respiratory infections at Gannett this month.” So, your mother is not completely out of line when she insists that you bundle up.

Other risks that we tend not to think about are skin irritations such as frostnip and frostbite. According to Dittman, frostnip is more common than frostbite and occurs on the surface layers of the skin. Frostnip can occur if too much skin is exposed during a 15 minute walk to class; frostbite, which affects the tissue under the skin, only occurs in more extreme situations.

What can you do? Dittman said, “Layering your clothing is key. It keeps you warmer when you’re outside than one heavy layer. Plus, you can peel layers to prevent overheating once you’re inside.”

On the weekends, layering one’s clothing can pose a slight problem. Crowded bars and fraternity parties are surely conducive to skimpy attire; once inside, it is easy to forget that you’re in Ithaca. But when you set foot outside, reality sets in and you suddenly realize that you’re about three layers underdressed. Think you can warm up your insides by consuming a couple of beverages? Think again. According to Dittman, alcohol actually compounds the issue by giving people a false sense of body warmth. “With alcohol, blood flows away from the body’s core toward the skin, so our limbs feel warm when our body heat is really dropping,” Dittman said.

Laziness is another problem that tends to set in during these cold winter months. Being inside means less physical activity, and gray skies often bring on a sluggish mood that prevents us from even going to the gym.

“When I choose classes, they have to be close to Collegetown or near a parking lot so I can drive. I’ve learned to cope with the cold by buying video games and DVDs and getting food delivered,” said Geoff Gordon ’04. “So I guess the moral of the story is that I’ve coped with the cold winters by becoming extra lazy.”

According to Dittman, it is important to keep active for your physical as well as mental health. On the less severe days, try to walk to where you are going. Get some light exposure by sitting near a window if you must. Short days and cold weather can be tough on the psyche, so do what you can to lift the mood. Winter sports like hiking, skiing and sledding are good ways to make the best of the snow. If anyone feels they are having trouble coping with the cold, an on-call nurse at Gannett can talk to you anytime.

As bad as the weather may be, you’re not alone. “It is part of the Cornell experience to deal with the Ithaca winters,” said Evan Hellman ’07. “Good or bad, it’s one of the defining characteristics of this school. We get through it together.”

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The body found last Thursday under the North Stewart Avenue Bridge was that of a 17-year-old Ithaca resident enrolled in high school, according to Linda Grace-Kobas, interim vice president for communications and media relations, and the Ithaca Police Department. Yesterday, the Ithaca Police’s Lt. Tim Williams told The Sun that “the case is closed; the identity has been determined; the family has been notified” and that he assumes they are making funeral arrangements. He said there was nothing more to add. The Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in Ithaca has invited community members impacted by the recent high school student deaths to “Helping Yourself and Others After Suicide” tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service Training and Resource Center on 124 East Court St. Grace-Kobas added that “support services are available for people connected with Cornell who may be affected by his death.”Archived article by Sun Staff

It’s 3:37 a.m. on the night before a final, and despite the empty coffee cups littering the desk, your eyelids are losing their battle with gravity. Suddenly … thump, your head hits the notebook, and you wake up bleary-eyed and screwed in the morning. For students and others who want a drink with a high-powered caffeine kick, BAWLS Guarana, a high-caffeine soft drink created by Hoby Buppert ’95, offers an alternative to coffee. “I have always been a big fan of caffeine, but the smell of coffee makes me sick,” said Buppert, who came up with the idea for BAWLS when he was traveling in Europe over winter break during his senior year in Cornell’s School of Hotel Management. “I noticed in Europe that they had a lot of high-caffeine energy drinks. I thought they tasted terrible but that the idea was really interesting.” When he got back to Cornell, Buppert asked his advisor, Christopher Muller, if he could do a business plan for his idea as an independent study. Muller said yes, and Buppert set to work. “When the entrepreneurial bug catches someone, you can tell,” said Muller, who taught at Cornell for 16 years and is now an associate professor for the Rosen School of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. “It becomes an all-encompassing flame, a fire that kind of consumes them. I could tell Hoby had that. He was going to do this project. The seriousness of his desire, to other people, might have looked a little bit pie-in-the-sky, but having been entrepreneurial [myself] in the past I recognized the look.” BAWLS got its name one night at Rulloff’s during Buppert’s senior year. “There are drinks like Red Bull, Flying Tiger that use aggressive animal symbols, so I was trying to think of a different, strong name to use,” said Buppert. “One of my friends said, ‘Why don’t you just call it Balls?’ as more of a joke, but I liked it, so I changed the spelling and trademarked it.” BAWLS’ caffeine kick comes from guarana, a berry that grows naturally in the Amazon. One 10-ounce bottle of BAWLS contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup to a cup and a half of coffee. It tastes like a “citrus-y cream soda” according to Buppert, and each cobalt-blue bottle costs between $1 and $1.50. Businessman When he was growing up in Baltimore, Md., his parents called him “Hobarama,” the name he eventually gave to his company, because he was always starting businesses. BAWLS wasn’t Buppert’s first business venture. From a lawn-cutting business to importing small items like puka shell necklaces and decorated wooden boxes from the Philippines at age 13, Buppert was always an entrepreneur. When the time came to apply for college, Buppert knew that he wanted to go to Cornell’s hotel school, and it was the only place to which he applied. He continued his lifelong interest in business at Cornell, where his favorite class was on entrepreneurship, taught by David BenDaniel, the Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Johnson Graduate School of Management. “He was a very personable young man,” BenDaniel said, “hard-charging and proactive. It is no surprise to me that he has been successful.” While he was a student at Cornell, Buppert played polo, belonged to Alpha Delta Phi and participated in hotel school activities — “when I wasn’t at Rulloff’s,” he said with a laugh. In fact, Buppert met his wife Christina, also a graduate of the hotel school in ’95, at Rulloff’s. She is now Hobarama’s vice president. “He was a very social, very energetic young man with an easy smile and lots of friends,” Muller said. “When Hoby walked in — he must’ve been about 19 or 20 — I could just tell that something was going to happen to him. He had that entrepreneurial drive.” Ambitious Graduate During October of 1995, the fall after he graduated with a degree in finance from the hotel school, Buppert decided to pursue his BAWLS business plan. Buppert got a loan to begin, and he called his former advisor Muller for advice. At times he ran into resistance because of his young age, but he also feels that it helped him succeed. “It helps in that you’re willing to try things in a new way,” Buppert said. “You haven’t been trained yet about what’s right or wrong. It also helps because you have perseverance; you’re not as easily discouraged.” Today, BAWLS distributes in 32 states and is available online. The company will be introducing its first new product, Guaranexx, a sugar-free version, this spring. Archived article by Katy Bishop